actual defintion:

Catch-22 also catch-22 (kchtwn-t-t, kch-)

n.

1.

a. A situation in which a desired outcome or solution is impossible to attain because of a set of inherently illogical rules or conditions: “In the Catch-22 of a closed repertoire, only music that is already familiar is thought to deserve familiarity” Joseph McLennan.

b. The rules or conditions that create such a situation.

2. A situation or predicament characterized by absurdity or senselessness.

3. A contradictory or self-defeating course of action: “The Catch-22 of his administration was that every grandiose improvement scheme began with community dismemberment” Village Voice.

4. A tricky or disadvantageous condition; a catch: “Of course, there is a Catch-22 with Form 4868you are supposed to include a check if you owe any additional tax, otherwise you face some penalties” New York.

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

“That’s some catch, that Catch-22,” he [Yossarian] observed.

“It’s the best there is,” Doc Daneeka agreed.

Much of Heller’s prose in Catch-22 is circular and repetitive, exemplifying in its form the structure of a Catch-22. Heller revels in paradox, for example: The Texan turned out to be good-natured, generous and likeable. In three days no one could stand him, and The case against Clevinger was open and shut. The only thing missing was something to charge him with. This constantly undermines the reader’s understanding of the characters’ milieu, and is key to understanding the book, which in itself seems like a paradox. An atmosphere of logical irrationality pervades the entire description of Yossarian’s life in the armed forces, and, indeed, the entire book.

Other forms of Catch-22 are invoked throughout the novel to justify various bureaucratic actions. At one point, victims of harassment by military agents quote the agents as having explained one of Catch-22’s provisions so: Catch-22 states that agents enforcing Catch-22 need not prove that Catch-22 actually contains whatever provision the accused violator is accused of violating. An old woman explains: Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can’t stop them from doing.

Yossarian comes to realize that Catch-22 does not actually exist, but that because the powers that be claim it does, and the world believes it does, nevertheless, it has potent effects. Indeed, because it does not exist there is no way it can be repealed, undone, overthrown, or denounced. The combination of brute force with specious legalistic justification is one of the book’s primary motifs.

The motif of bureaucratic absurdity is further explored in 1994’s Closing Time, Heller’s sequel to Catch-22. This darker, slower-paced, apocalyptic novel explores the pre- and post-war lives of some of the major characters in Catch-22, with particular emphasis on the relationship between Yossarian and tailgunner Sammy Singer.